Principal Data & AI Scientist

Responsibilities

• Lead development of advanced statistical and machine learning models across core insurance domains such as Pricing and rating, Underwriting and risk selection, Claims severity/frequency/fraud detection, Customer lifetime value, retention and growth.
• Design end-to-end analytical solutions, from problem formulation and feature engineering to model deployment and monitoring.
• Champion best practices in model validation, explainability, fairness, and performance monitoring aligned with regulatory and ethical standards.
• Evaluate and select appropriate modeling techniques (GLMs, gradient boosting, deep learning, survival analysis, Bayesian methods) based on business context.
• Partner with executives, product leaders, and actuarial teams to shape analytics strategy and identify high-impact opportunities.
• Translate complex analytical findings into clear actionable insights for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Influence roadmap decisions by quantifying business impact, risk, and uncertainty.
• Collaborate closely with data engineering and ML platform teams to ensure models are productionized effectively and maintained at scale.
• Define and promote standards for model reproducibility, documentation, testing, and lifecycle management.
• Contribute to evolution of internal data science tooling, experimentation frameworks, and ML infrastructure.
• Serve as technical mentor and role model for emerging data scientists; raise bar for analytical rigor, code quality, and scientific thinking.
• Foster culture of curiosity, experimentation, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• B.A. or B.S. degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Software Engineering, AI, ML, Data Science, or Data Engineering.
• Master’s degree or Ph.D. in AI, Data Science, or ML preferred.
• 10+ years enterprise-scale experience designing, implementing, deploying AI/ML models.
• 7+ years experience with cloud-based AI platforms (Azure Machine Learning, Databricks, Snowflake).
• 7+ years experience implementing supervised and unsupervised learning techniques in real-world applications.
• Experience in the insurance industry (Auto, Home, Umbrella) – underwriting, claims analysis, risk assessment (required).
• Experience with advanced AI frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, Hugging Face transformers) preferred.
• Hands‑on experience with Gen AI, RAG pipelines, Vector Databases, Knowledge Graphs.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and deep understanding of statistical & mathematical principles.
• Strong experience in NLP and generative AI applications.
• Expertise in MLOps, model lifecycle management, AI model deployment at scale.
• Proficient in Python, PySpark, SQL.
• Deep knowledge of Azure Databricks, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory.
• Experience with distributed model training & serving on Databricks.
• Familiarity with Azure OpenAI, LLM fine‑tuning, or cognitive services preferred.
• Expertise in supervised & unsupervised learning techniques and implementing AI/ML solutions for insurance.
• Familiarity with agile software delivery methodologies (Scrum).

Compensation

Greater Seattle area target pay range: $187,363 – $228,999 (full pay range $156,136 – $260,226). Outside greater Seattle area target pay range: $165,352 – $202,096 (full pay range $137,793 – $229,655).

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision coverage (eligible employees).
• Basic life and accidental death & dismemberment insurance.
• Long- and short-term disability coverage.
• 401(k) plan with employer match (2:1 on first 6% pre‑tax/Roth deferral, up to federal maximum).
• Vacation accrual: minimum 10 days, up to 25 days based on tenure.
• Four floating holidays at hire.
• Annual paid holidays: eight observed holidays.
• Paid sick leave: up to 10 days at hire (pro‑rated), exceeds Washington state‑required accrual.
• Bereavement, jury duty, volunteering paid time off.
• Flexible Spending Accounts; Education Assistance Program after one year; Scholarship program for children after one year; Employee Assistance Program; Well‑being program; Discretionary taxable gifts and gift cards; Perks & Benefits (software, hardware, cell phone plans, rental cars).
• Discretionary bonuses; tiered sales commissions/incentives (5‑25% of monthly sales); employee referral bonuses; shift differential pay.

Equal Employment Opportunity

PEMCO is an equal opportunity workplace. We are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Applicants Have Rights Under Federal Employment Laws

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)